To the Moon series review

Look back on your life. If you could change one thing, what would it be? Would you choose a different career? Would you pick different friends? Or would you simply live with the choices you made? This is the premise of the Sigmund Corp. video-game series by Freebird Games.

You follow 2 Doctors with a job as poignant as it is controversial - they enter memories of dying people and change something on their request, offering them the illusion of a better life - right before the flatline. In their attempts to fullfil last wishes, we are taken on a tear-inducing journey backwards through a lifetime of memories. With some emotional whiplash sprinkled in, of course - the secondary genre is comedy, so beware of sentient rice cookers.

Presentation quality matches that of the story. Though the engine is based on decades old RPG Maker XP, the 16-bit pixel art graphics are “perfectly serviceable” to outright mesmerizing (particularly in Impostor Factory), with a classical charm to them throughout. And my music playback stats reflect my opinion on the soundtrack well - a lot of it consistently ends up in most-played, for a good reason.

The gameplay has our “main” characters, Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts, jumping from memory to memory and exploring the environment. Blank cutoff spots where the patient wasn’t paying attention, strangers who were only remembered as a silhouette, it is all quite dream like - as a memory should be. There are simple puzzles separating memories, but they aren’t a nuisance.

To the Moon

The first game follows the life of an ordinary man named Johnny, with a not-so-ordinary wish - though he doesn’t remember why, Johnny wants to go To the Moon™. Of course, the game isn’t just about getting him there, but rather understanding the reason for such a seemingly random wish. And trust me, there is one. A tragic love story with some hope, a train wreck in reverse.

Finding Paradise

Like a good sequel should, Finding Paradise gives us a different side of the same coin, while keeping (or, in my subjective opinion, improving on) the quality of writing and presentation. A reality to To the Moon’s fantasy, it is a game about regrets with some turns you might not expect.

Not to be outdone by Johnny’s lack of motivation, the new patient, Colin, has asked for something. The doctors will have to unravel his life to understand what exactly he even wants in the first place - for his vague wish appears to be self-contradicting and outright impossible by nature. And, of course, it’s about some girl.

Finding Paradise’s release was preceded by A Bird Story, a short experimental game without any words, about a boy with an active imagination and… a bird. Playing it will give you a glimpse into an episode from Colin’s childhood that’s recounted in the main game. It’s a bit of a hot topic whether to play it before or after Finding Paradise, and if you should even play it in the first place. I am firmly on the side of playing it after, but your mileage may vary.

Impostor Factory

What if the world ended tomorrow?

The third game is a “bonkers time-loop tragicomedy murder mystery thriller featuring multiple casualties and a suspicious cat”, promising a “wholesome celebration of the bloody end of a world”. Despite such an ominous description, it is very much part of the series, and might have overtaken Finding Paradise for the spot of my favourite entry.

Though not strictly advertised this way, Impostor Factory definitely feels catered towards people who have played the previous games. As such, I will not be trying to sell it here to not give away anything. If you liked To the Moon and Finding Paradise, you will probably like this. A lot.

But on a fundamental level, Impostor Factory is about the limited time all of us have on this planet. And stars.

Beach Episode

An ending to the series, the To the Moon Beach Episode is a short, beautiful - and perhaps slightly melancholic - last bow for the characters - and the people who made them.

Just A To the Moon Series Beach Episode review

Last Hour RPG

The other of the two endings, The Last Hour of an Epic TO THE MOON RPG, is set to release by end of 2024. Nobody knows it if will (Freebird Time and all), but I do know that this review will be updated when it does land eventually.

Technical details

No- this isn’t a name of a game! :D

As mentioned above, the games run some version of MKXP, an player for RPG Maker XP. Despite the engine being 20 years old, you’d be surprised how much the developers do with it! And don’t tell anyone, but this comes with some benefits if you’re decent with computers and are a fan of knowing everything about your favourite games - you can preserve them offline, listen to discarded/unfinished soundtracks, and even view every sprite up close! But again, shhh, I never told you any of this.

The games run well on all 3 major desktop platforms: Linux, Windows and Mac. The system requirements are extremely light, chances are your computer will run them, even if it’s a “potato”. Controller is workable and I seen it used by some, but discovering interactable objects is much easier with a mouse.

You can get them on Steam and GOG, with Steam having sales up to 85% off (~2$ per game if you’re in the US, that’s a steal!). There are mobile and switch ports by XD for the first two, but be warned that they are a bit more expensive and the Finding Paradise one is known to have bugs here and there. And that you will probably become a fan and want to play IF after that, which is on PC only :). A console port of To the Moon is being developed by Serenity Forge.